YouTube Wins Gen Z Attention, Forcing Instagram & TikTok to Catch Up
56%
YouTube is emerging as Gen Z’s go-to platform, with 56% spending more time on it than last year, per YouGov. About 52% say they feel closer to creators than TV stars, Deloitte found, giving brands new ways to connect authentically. YouTube’s dominance is pressuring rivals like Instagram and TikTok to step up with new features to keep engagement high.
3 B
Instagram has hit a major milestone with 3 billion monthly active users, joining Facebook and WhatsApp in Meta’s 3B+ club. The app, acquired in 2012 for $1 billion, has grown from 2 billion users in 2022 to this record high. Meta’s broader family of apps now reaches 3.48 billion daily active people, underscoring the company’s dominance in global social media engagement.
500,000
Holiday retail hiring in 2025 may drop below 500,000 jobs, the lowest since 2009’s 495,800 hires, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Seasonal gains would mark a 16-year low, following a 4% YoY decline in 2024 with 543,100 hires. Tariffs, inflation, automation, and reliance on permanent staff are driving muted hiring plans. While some retailers like Target and Bath & Body Works made announcements, many remain cautious, signaling a “do more with less” approach this holiday season.
$13.1B
Consumers are set to spend a record $13.1 billion on Halloween 2025, up 13% YoY from last year’s $11.6 billion and topping the $12.2 billion record in 2023, per NRF. Average spend is projected at $114.45 per person, with $4.3 billion on costumes, $3.9 billion on candy, and $4.2 billion on decorations. Despite tariff concerns, 73% of shoppers still plan to celebrate, with many starting early and turning to discount stores. Retailers like Target, Home Depot, and Lowe’s are rolling out collections earlier to capture this strong demand.
$1.17 T
Global ad spending is projected to hit $1.17 trillion in 2025, growing 7.4% YoY, per WARC’s Q3 update — a 1.2-point boost from prior forecasts. Digital platforms will drive 90% of incremental growth, with social media capturing 40.6% of new ad dollars, non-retail search 22.2%, and retail media 21.5%. The digital triopoly — Google, Amazon, and Meta — will command 55.8% of global spend, while retail media alone is set to reach $175 billion. Despite tariff concerns and economic headwinds, advertising is on track to nearly double in value since 2020, underscoring the resilience of digital-first strategies.
$500 B
OpenAI and Oracle have launched the first site of the $500 billion Stargate program in Abilene, Texas, powered by Oracle Cloud and Nvidia chips. The project is part of a broader $2 trillion global AI infrastructure boom, with Stargate alone aiming to scale to nearly 7 gigawatts and $400B+ in investment over the next three years. OpenAI, projected to generate $13 billion in 2025 revenue, is expanding rapidly with Nvidia, Microsoft, and SoftBank backing, as it races to meet the massive compute demand fueling the AI revolution.
46%
Micron posted strong results with Q4 revenue of $11.32B vs. $11.22B forecast, while guiding $12.5B for Q1. Net income jumped to $3.2B from $887M YoY, driving a 46% revenue surge. Shares have nearly doubled in 2025, fueled by AI demand for its high-bandwidth memory, with cloud sales hitting $4.54B, more than tripling YoY. Micron’s CEO says the company is uniquely positioned as the only U.S.-based memory manufacturer in the AI race.